Emperador to buy Louis Royer cognac?

There are unconfirmed reports that Emperador, the Philippine brandy maker, is to buy Louis Royer, the French cognac brand.

According to Bloomberg Business News, the Manila-based company that bought scotch whisky producer, Whyte & Mackay in 2014 for £430 million, will submit a bid tomorrow (May 13).

The company, which makes the world’s number one brandy at 33 million 9-litre cases, is part of Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group. It claims to account for 21 of every 100 bottles of brandy sold worldwide.

The distiller also said that it expect sales to grow 35% this year following a 7% increase in 2014 to 32 billion pesos. It markets Emperador brandy in Europe and Africa, and it introduced eight new products in the Philippines.